Show Your Hand
by Scarpaw
Summary: It's never good to show your hand too early, after all.


Hey all! This is my first piece for the Gravity Falls fandom! This is sort of a reaction piece to the new episode last night, and as such, there are spoilers for the new episode "Not What He Seems". I advise you that if you have not seen the new episode, to watch it before reading this, otherwise you maybe confused.

Also, this piece takes into account some headcanons from Tumblr that circle around the Dipper&amp;Mabel Guidebook that's out, and the whole Bipper Situation from "Sock Opera".

I hope you guys enjoy!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gravity Falls**

**_Show Your Hand_**

_It's never good to show your hand too early, after all._

He didn't like showing his hand too early. After all, he _could _foresee all possible outcomes. Besides, it wasn't like the entire day was a bust. Ahahaha, get it? Bust? Because Stanford got _busted_.

But that wasn't the matter. The matter was the entire scenario. Not how he would have spun it, but then again, the Pine Trees always did have a way of taking their lines and improvising. Still, it was things he could handle.

Ever since the smaller Pine Tree made the deal with him, he'd always had a back door to the physical plane. After all, the kid never actually nullified the contract, and until he fulfilled his side of the deal, he didn't have to leave unless the contract was nullified, fulfilled, or someone else forced him out.

Either way, he was content to sit back and observe the ride. He had some inkling of a possibility as to what Stanford was doing– oh, what was he doing being modest, he knew _exactly_ what Stanford was doing –and he knew all possible outcomes. So now, he just had to sit back and make sure things went how they were supposed to, and make sure that the Pine Trees didn't deviate too far from their script. He even gave the smaller one a bit of a push not to worry about the countdown until later. Actually, he had done it so well, that he had forgotten about the countdown completely, which was an added bonus for him.

Things were going perfectly, and he sat back, still content to observe, because he wanted to relish in their reactions as they made the discoveries that he knew they would make. The pain and anguish on their faces, the desperation in their voices– the reeling mix of emotions that the smaller one went through that he got to enjoy as well –they were all things he would store and remember years from now, once everything had gone according to _his_ script.

He had seen them finding the code, remembering it himself from when he had been in Stanford's dreamscape for that short time earlier. Following along, he watched as they fought for access to the vending machine, and wondered which path they would take. Would they gain access to Stanford's secret lab? They needed to, and he subtly gave the smaller Pine Tree the little push that he needed to enter the code in the vending machine.

Then, oh then, it was the anxious trip down to the lab. Such a rush! He hadn't found such an extreme rush of anxiety in a long time. It was great. He'd have to make sure to thank Pine Tree later for all the emotions later.

Perfectly, perfectly, perfectly– everything was going perfectly, until _Stanford_ arrived. Always arriving just in the nick of time, ruining everything he had planned.

Well, _almost_ always arriving in the nick of time.

Even so, it was his appearance that made the younger Pine Trees squared hesitate in actually initiating the shutdown. It was very tempting for him to just to reach out with the youngest Pine Tree's body and hit the button himself, but he stopped himself. Not the right time, and he could tell Pine Tree still had hesitations himself about initiating shutdown. Poor thing; part of him still wanted to believe that his grunkle was good. Hah, that's a riot. Either way, if he took control of the body now, there would be definite suspicions. And, he could tell, if he did it now, he was positive that he'd lose his secret back door to the physical plane.

And he could lose that.

So he stuck it out, waiting, watching, plotting for his next move. He had to plan it right. These last moments before the countdown ended were crucial. If he made the wrong move, years of planning would go down the drain. Not that the years mattered to him, but still. It was the principle of these things and, not to mention, he would have more contenders to deal with, even if he did have a back door in one. He knew his hand, and he knew that it wasn't quite right to show it yet.

At the last moment another anomaly kicked up, sending them all flying into the air. Drat! There was no one close enough to the button to shut it down. Still, before his mind's eye flashed the innumerable possibilities that were still available, and the one set that he wanted came to be as the middle Pine Tree shimmied her way back down to the button.

And sure, maybe he did give a bit of his will when the smaller Pine Tree yelled at his sister to press the button, but he could tell that the smaller Pine Tree wanted what he did now. He didn't want that countdown to end and for the portal to open. Huh. Maybe that subliminal messaging thing _was_ working. He'd have to look into that more.

Okay, he _did _give a bit more of his will to the smaller Pine Tree when he yelled once more at the end of the countdown for her to initiate shutdown. He still wasn't showing his hand though; he had a bit of misplaced faith that the Pine Tree would do what her brother wanted, but he had been wrong before. The day of the deal had shown him that. Being so convinced that she would abandon her brother for her little opera, he had made the fatal miscalculation that gave the other Pine Tree access back to the physical plane.

Seething, he almost took control and forced the portal shut himself when Pine Tree chose to _trust_ Stanford, rather than just shut it down. It was too late though; the portal had already completely opened, and there was nothing more he could do to stop this phase. It wasn't the scene he had prepared for, or wanted, but he was willing to grudgingly accept it all the same.

He knew how to play his hand, and knew that it wasn't the right time to show it. Not with _him_ coming out of the portal after all. Backing off for now, he knew it wasn't a good idea to stick so close to any of the Pine Trees while _he_ was around for the moment.

Nevertheless, Bill Cipher would be back to show his hand to Stanley Pines.

And soon.


End file.
